Schroders Investment Management named Fund Manager of the Year

It’s two in a row for Schroders Investment Management, which has beaten fellow industry contenders to the coveted title of Fund Manager of the Year in this year’s Money Management/Lonsec Fund Manager of the Year Awards.

Schroders was a clear leader in the field, taking out the overall fund manager category as well as securing pole position in Global Equities (Broad Cap) and a spot on the final shortlist in the Fixed Interest (Diversified) category.

Schroders has had an excellent year and was praised by research house Lonsec for its quality and underlying sector capabilities across the board. Emphasis was placed on its strong risk management focus and advanced portfolio construction techniques, which were hailed by Lonsec as a winning formula.

“Its sector capabilities are rated highly, with the highest possible ratings achieved in Australian equities and fixed income. Schroders’ diversified funds have outperformed peers and benchmarks over all time periods, with value added across all stages of the investment process (asset allocation and stock selection),” the research house said.

Securing the top spot for the second year in a row is no mean feat, yet Greg Cooper, chief executive officer at Schroders Investment Management, remained humble about the firm’s achievements. Outlining the challenges the industry faced over the last two years, he stressed the importance of adopting a universal investment strategy.

“We have retained a disciplined approach to investment, and one of the advantages we have is that we can draw on the broad spectrum of experience in our dedicated teams. Having a broader perspective is very important and the idea that it is still possible to look at these areas in isolation when it’s a global market is unfounded,” he said.

The consistency of the investment team, coupled with the firm’s long-term investment philosophy, were pinpointed by Lonsec as key features of the fund manager’s success and undoubtedly contributed to its high-ranking achievements — particularly in the global equities space. In addition, its superior product offering across a number

of asset classes ensured it beat its competitors to the coveted top spot.

The runner up in the Fund Manager of the Year category, Goldman Sachs JBWere Asset Management, was also lauded for its quality products. The firm’s head of distribution, Phil Gardner, said its success was based on good performance for its clients and a wide product offering reaffirmed by the need for liquidity in portfolios.

“Principally, our business objectives are to use the quality of our team and products to deliver performance and focus on client outcomes,” he said.

In other categories, Integrity Investment Management also secured its second consecutive win, taking out the Australian Equities (Broad Cap) category ahead of finalists Perennial Investment Partners and UBS Global Asset Management. Last year’s Rising Star showed its winning formula is still intact, with its flagship Australian Share Fund delivering strong returns versus its benchmark and peer group over the course of 2009.

This year’s Rising Star award went to Solaris Investment Management, which was hailed for its investment team’s experience, depth and stability managing Australian equities for institutional and retail investors over various investment cycles.